Second Chances
by DiscordantPrincess
Summary: Danielle visits her father's old employees in prison and offers them a chance at a new life. One-shot.


**My friends, we are about to embark on the most odious, the most evil...oops, sorry, wrong spiel, heehee. (That awkward moment when you realize that you've just recited part of your favorite Disney villain's dialogue instead of your Author's Note.) **

**Anywayz, here we've got another GMD one-shot that I've had simmering in my great criminal brain (Dang it, Vincent Price, get your awesomely sexy voice outta my head...no, on second thought, KEEP your awesomely sexy voice in my head!) for a while. It's about Ratigan's men post-movie, and what's happened to them since the death of our dear professor. Enjoy!**

LONDON 1899

Life in Thames River Prison was usually decent. The inmates were treated fairly well, receiving good meals, reasonably comfortable cells and programs to help them become better citizens of London once they were released.

However, for a certain group of inmates, life in Thames River Prison was absolutely miserable. Their cells were cramped, the food was lousy and they were offered no chance at release. These were the thugs who made up the former posse of the late Professor Ratigan, London's greatest scourge. In June of 1897, Ratigan had set up a plan in which his men would help him murder their highly beloved Queen Mousetoria and get him on the throne, but fortunately he had been stopped and died fighting his archenemy Basil of Baker Street on top of Big Ben. Because they were part of a conspiracy to commit regicide, these men were sentenced to life in prison with a high bail cost.

"This stinks!" Mike, one of the thugs, complained. "We spend years workin' for that stinkin' sewer rat without ever gettin' caught ONCE, and as soon as he kicks the bucket we end up gettin' thrown in the slammer!"

"Shh, Mike, you shouldn't call the professor a sewer rat!" Charley, another thug, scolded his companion.

"Yeah, it ain't right," Bill the Lizard, another thug and the only non-mouse of the bunch, agreed.

"In case you numbskulls have forgotten, Ratigan is dead," Mike replied, "so unless he's gonna send his GHOST after me to haunt my dreams or somethin', I can call him whatever the heck I please."

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Charley responded. "It's just a force of habit, keepin' from sayin' the R-word out loud." He sighed. "Y'know, it's kinda funny; as much as the professor tortured us and kept us under his thumb...I gotta say, I kinda miss him."

"Yeah, me too," Bill admitted. "And Fidget, that creepy little bat. Too bad Ratigan had to throw him in the river and make him drown."

"Y'know who I really miss?" Mike asked. "I miss Danielle."

The other men all had to agree. Danielle, Ratigan's young daughter, had always been kind and sweet to her father's employees, treating them like family rather than thugs. Seeing her almost made living in the sewers and working for a ruthless crime lord who threw mice to his pampered pussy cat anytime one of them did the slightest thing to tick him off worth it.

"You guys realize that we ain't seen Dani since Christmas of 1896?" Charley asked.

"Yeah, poor kid," Bill agreed. "I just hope she's doin' OK."

Just then, the door to their cell area opened. One of the police officers came in. "You boys have a visitor." He turned back. "They're in here, ma'am."

"Thank you, Officer," came a kind feminine voice. The men watched as a lovely young lady with gray fur, long black hair and dark blue eyes came into the room. She smiled at them. "Hello."

The men all gasped. "DANIELLE!" they all cried in near unison.

Danielle turned to the officer and smiled sweetly. "May I please have some time alone with them, Officer?"

The officer frowned, but nodded. "All right, but I'm keeping the door open and staying right out, should any of these miscreants try to do anything to you." He stepped out of the room, leaving Danielle alone with the men, still locked in their cells.

"Hey, Dani, we missed ya, kid!" Charley told the young woman.

Danielle smiled. "I've missed you all, too. How has life been for you?"

"Whadda YOU think?" Mike asked. "It's been LOUSY! We've been stuck in this stinkin' hole since June of '97!"

Danielle giggled. "Always nice to hear your cheerful words, Uncle Mike."

"Well forget US, how're YOU doin'?" Charley asked.

"I'm doing well," Danielle replied. "I'm living in London society now, in a nice little flat." Then, she thought of something to add. "Oh, and I think you'll all be glad to hear that Felicia is doing well, too." She was referring to Ratigan's former cat, who had been taken in by a human family after being mauled within inches of her life that fateful night. "She's lost a lot of weight so she's so much healthier now, AND she just had her first litter of kittens a few weeks ago!"

"GREAT, even that mangy furball is doin' better than us," Mike grumbled. Charley elbowed him in the ribs.

Bill was the first one to notice the tiny, barely noticeable bulge in Danielle's stomach. "Hey, check it out, guys! Our little Dani's gotten herself knocked up!" The men all looked to see what the lizard said was true. Danielle blushed a bit as they all stared at her belly. Having just begun to show recently, she wasn't quite used to people commenting on her impending motherhood.

"So whose kid is it?" Charley asked.

Danielle frowned. "My husband's," she replied in a tone indicating that she was insulted that Charley would suggest that she would get pregnant out of wedlock. She held up her left hand, and the men all whistled when they saw the large diamond engagement ring and the golden wedding band around her ring finger.

"Sweet ice," Mike commented. "Musta cost the guy a fortune."

"So who IS the lucky fella?" Bill inquired.

Danielle turned and smiled. "Here he comes now." A gentleman with light brown fur and green eyes, wearing a brown Inverness cape and deerstalker hat, approached Danielle and gave her a hug and a kiss. He then looked at the jailbirds. "Hello, gentlemen."

The men all gasped. "BASIL?"

"You mean to tell us that you married Basil of Baker Street?" Bill asked.

"Yes, I did," Danielle confirmed. "We got married August 16th, 1898, and we've been happily together since then, haven't we, Basil darling?"

"Indeed we have," Basil agreed.

"Oh, this is SAD, Dani, really SAD," Mike sighed.

"And just why would that be, my good sir?" Basil asked as he approached the cell to stand face to face with the thug.

"Well for ONE thing, you're old enough to be Dani's FATHER," Mike began. "But even WORSE, you're her ACTUAL father's worst enemy!"

"Danielle is an intelligent grown woman, capable of making her OWN choices," Basil defended his wife. "She chose to marry me, and it is no business of yours to say anything negative about it!"

Mike glared at the detective. "Still, marryin' you is pretty much the ultimate family betrayal!"

"Excuse me, Uncle Mike," Danielle interjected, standing between her husband and the cell, "but in case you have forgotten, my father always put my happiness before his personal feelings. He would WANT me to be happy with Basil, no matter how much he disliked him, and if you feel differently then kindly keep your mouth shut!" The others snickered as Mike shut up, defeated by the young woman's words.

"Perhaps we should just leave, Danielle," Basil suggested. "These men hardly seem worthy of our offer."

"What offer?" Charley asked.

Danielle sighed. "Basil and I were having a discussion last night, and I've convinced him to pay the money to have you all released."

The men all gasped excitedly. "Ya MEAN it?" Bill asked.

"Yes. We both agreed that you men deserve a second chance at a decent life," Danielle continued.

"Although SHE believes it MUCH more strongly than do I," Basil muttered, earning himself a glare from his wife.

"But you all must promise something," Danielle continued solemnly. "You must promise to NEVER commit crimes again."

"But what'll we do?" Charley asked.

"Yeah, none of us are trained to do a heck of a lot of jobs," Bill agreed.

"I'm sure you can all find the jobs that you are qualified for," Danielle reassured them. "London's a fairly large city...and nobody says you have to stay in London, you could go to different parts of the country, maybe even to OTHER countries. Uncle Charley, haven't you always said that you've wanted to go to France?"

"_Mais oui_," Charley replied. "But if we leave, Dani, then we'll never get to see you again."

Danielle smiled. "Of course we'll see each other again. Life has a funny way of keeping everyone together, no matter how far apart they live. You all were such a big part of my childhood, I'm sure fate can't keep us all apart for very long."

"So what do you gents say?" Basil inquired. "Are you willing to accept our offer?"

The men all looked at each other. One by one, each nodded and smiled, until finally Mike was the only one left. He sighed. "Yes, we'll take your offer."

Danielle smiled and turned to the officer standing guard. "You heard them, Officer. Release them, please." The officer, amazed at what he had just heard, had little choice but to nod and unlock the cells. Once they were free, the men all gathered around Danielle to thank her. A few even hugged Basil, making the detective a bit uncomfortable but happy.

* * *

And so the former employees of Professor Ratigan were given a new life. Many went to different areas and found jobs, but they all stayed in contact with Danielle and her family. True to their word, not one of the men ever committed another crime in a day in his life.

**Yay, second chance time! Maybe it's just me being a Christian, but I highly believe in giving people second chances...even if they're fictional Disney henchmen!**

**I know what you're thinking, "Where in the hay are Basil and Danielle going to get enough money to bail out all those guys?" Well, remember peeps, in "The Great Mouse Detective 2: Unexpected Love," I said that even though Dani gave back a lot of the money Ratigan willed to her because it was in stolen goods, she still had a pretty good chunk left (hence why that douchebag Wallace wanted to marry her), and I'm sure Bas makes some good money, what with all the cases he does and having a surgeon for a partner/flat-mate (Dr. Dawson's a nice guy, I'm sure he'd help out a little)...OK, I'm rambling, so I'll get off that topic now.**

** Yes, I just turned Felicia into a mother...why not, kittens are one of the cutest things in the world, and I'm sure our Feli could make a good mom...maybe, I don't know, what do YOU all think?**

**Just a fun fact, I made August 16th Basil and Danielle's anniversary because that's my parents' anniversary...yay for incorporating real life into fanfics!**

**Thanks for reading! Please review, and NO FLAMES, all flames will be used to roast marshmallows for s'mores...what, I'm an old Girl Scout, I like s'mores!**

**All my best, DiscordantPrincess.**


End file.
